Obama pushes for Rangel exit

President Barack Obama is sending a strong signal to ethics-embattled Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel, telling CBS news that the time has come for the 80-year-old dean of New York’s congressional delegation to end his career “with dignity.”

But a person close to Rangel tells POLITICO the embattled Democrat “doesn’t give a damn about what the president thinks about this” and won’t step down.

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Yet, Obama’s statement changes the dynamics and makes it much harder for the tenacious Rangel to hold on, according to congressional sources.

After days of administration officials dodging questions about Rangel, Obama was blunt as he took on the issue in an interview with Harry Smith of the CBS “Early Show,” repeatedly referring to Rangel, who backed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential primary, in the past tense.

“I think Charlie Rangel served a very long time and served — his constituents very well but these — allegations are very troubling,” the president said in the interview aired Friday night on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

“And he'll — he's somebody who's at the end of his career. Eighty years old. I'm sure that — what he wants is to be able to — end his career with dignity. And my hope is that — it happens,” he added.

Obama’s comments — a sobering expression of concern delivered by the first African-American president to the first black chairman of the House and Ways Committee — is likely to ratchet up the pressure on Rangel. But the White House, while expressing its dissatisfaction to Rangel's aides as well as a desire to see him accept a career-ending deal, hasn’t directly asked him to retire.

“[Obama’s] statement comes as no surprise to us,” said a person close to Rangel, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We’re not surprised by this, we’ve known the people in the White House have felt this way for a while, but this doesn’t change anything for us.”